The New Year is set to see further structural and ownership changes among global systems industry vendors.

Talks about the potential sale of two companies with strong UK connections are understood to be underway, with a third among potential suitors, along with Newscycle Solutions and HIG Capital, the company which invested in US-based Brainworks in 2014.

HIG has offices in the US and affiliates in Europe and South America, and is not connected with HgCapital (formerly Mercury Private Equity), which become EidosMedia's major investor late last year. Another recent investment for HgCapital has been computer graphics and VFX developer The Foundry, which has just been honoured with an Oscar for its MARI 3D painting technology.

Earlier in January, the Facebook page of one of the three original Newscycle companies was abuzz with reports of staff layoffs, with US, UK and European operations - all affected. One post commented that it was "sad that skilled people are being lost".

GXpress has been told that Newscycle offices in the Asia Pacific are untouched by this.

Despite suggestions that the company's venture capital owners were working to improve EBITA as a precursor to a sale of the enlarged group in the next couple of years, GXpress columnist John Juliano was told that the cuts merely replicated "what customers were doing".